1989
by Leviathan1984
Summary: Nearly two years has passed since that fateful summer of 1987 and Lucy finds her thoughts returning to the boys. Did it all have to end that way? As the summer of 1989 comes to a close the Emerson's discover vampires seldom truly ever stay dead...
1. Chapter 1 Nightmares and memories

August 14th 1989

Time had passed and erased almost all traces of those dark events of the fateful summer of 1987. When Lucy Emerson had brought her two sons to seek a better life in the old seaside resort town of Santa Carla. The place of her birth and happy and blessed childhood by the sea. When her marriage had fallen apart the only option left was to come home to her father. How could any of them know what was to come as events unfolded later that haunted summer. Much had changed since that last golden age of innocence when vampires where just creatures of folklore and old B-Movies. If you had asked Lucy about vampires prior to 1987 her knowledge was limited to Bela Lugosi and what she had seen on the late show. Before the horrible truth shattered their world. Nothing was ever quite the same after that. To know each night somewhere out there across the earth in cities just like theirs the undead haunted the streets. Vampires ruled the night. The folklore of old Europe was not only true but put Hollywood to shame. It gave Lucy pause to consider the millions of people who vanish worldwide without a trace. Every odd stranger she encountered at sundown. Every sound and whisper in the darkness took on a frightening new dimension. They where out there. The world was haunted by the restless immortal undead and she knew it as fact. Her sons knew it. Her father had carried that weight for decades. He kept her safe from the truth but he always knew someday that it would come calling. He never expected it to come courting his daughter though.

Santa Carla according to him was always haunted by the undead. Strangely most seaside towns and cities where. From Santa Carla to San Francisco on down to Galveston Texas the undead seemed to congregate by the sea. It made sense really. Tourist towns with a steady flow of strangers and the the vast black waters of the ocean to dispose of remains. That summer and the terrible events that transpired where probably playing out nightly all along the coast down to New Orleans where her father told her tales of a vampire regent who held court in a lavish estate on Esplanade ave. Max most likely answered to that shadowy monarch few outside of New Orleans had ever seen. According to him each major city had a head vampire who answered to a regional governor who in turn all answered to the regent of New Orleans. He only answered to the king of the vampires. The ancient one who resided somewhere in Europe. It was said he was the inspiration for Bram Stokers Dracula,that he was thousands of years old. It frightened her to know truthfully Max was nothing compared to those out there even more powerful and older than him. It was said that there where some who lived when Christ walked the earth. Ancient deadly creatures stalking an endless night for all eternity. She often wondered what those ancient ones must be like. Her father told her they where more obvious than Max and the boys. Unwilling and unable to blend in as well. Less human looking,ghostly creatures with flesh as white as bleached bone with gem like eyes and mouths full of sharp fangs. Ancient,wise and terribly cruel. They where a closed off society that existed in the shadows. A royal court of the ancient undead.

despite all the horror and burden of this dark knowledge Lucy had to try to build a new life for herself and her poor sons. First the divorce and now this.

Life had to go on though somehow. Nearly two years had slipped by,the house was repaired and nothing remained to bear evidence of what had happened. The only trace was a long series of deep claw marks David had left in some ceiling beams. Even the bathtub upstairs had been replaced along with all the fittings in the bathroom. The house probably hadn't looked that good since it was built.

After the burial of the vampires remains and the house repairs life went on. As normal as it could be. Lucy took a new job working as manager at a elegant seaside hotel where the wealthy tourists stayed. Sam and Micheal where never quite the same though. School and its regimented schedule did little to distract from what had transpired that summer. How could they even relate to the other kids after such a thing? After that evening the two never lingered on the boardwalk at night. Always carried holy water and blessed rosaries. When dusk began to fall that usually sent the two in for the night. Those dark hours between sun down and sun up was now a time to be feared and dreaded. Both boys where traumatized by the violent battle that tore through the house. Sam and Micheal had become prisoners of their own fear and it pained Lucy to see her sons where unable to enjoy their lives as before. Nothing helped. Therapists, family trips,a shower of gifts and extra attention. Nothing seemed to break through the wall of trauma and anxiety that had built up.

Sam was the worse off of the two. He was lonely and isolated. He didn't have any friends at school and had a reputation for being a loner. Micheal fared no better. He too withdrew into himself a lot of the time.

They lived in fear David would return. Like some monster from the old tales come back for vengeance. Or other vampires in some show of unity among their ranks would take their revenge on them. Though after all the time that had passed no reprisals or attacks from other vampires ever came. Nothing at all. Despite this the Emerson boys remained forever on guard. Sam kept holy water in his room and Micheal kept a large knife under his pillow. He was still plagued with nightmares. Lucy was convinced David and his gang where the only ones that haunted Santa Carla despite her fathers insistence otherwise. She had been out many times after dark. Waiting for her ride home or wandering the seashore alone beneath the stars. One time in the summer of 1988 while beach combing by moonlight she had thought she saw David briefly but it was a fleeting vision. Strangely though she wasn't afraid. If it had been David she wasn't so sure she had cause to fear him. Max maybe but certainly not David. Perhaps it was just a ghost. She had never told Sam or Micheal about her sighting. It had to have been a ghost or some boy passing by who just had similar hair after all. No need to frighten two boys already on edge.

Edgar and Alan had gone back to the comic shop and remained Sam's only friends. They where all he had at school. They would come around to keep Sam company,the three going downtown or to the boardwalk by day. All until a year later when they left town quite suddenly with their family for Astoria Oregon. They never gave a reason why. They just packed up and left. No one had heard from them since. Laddie Thompson was returned to the dysfunctional and often abusive household of alcoholics he had run away from years ago. Only to run away again. This time for good. Lucy thought she had seen him once on the boardwalk but like the ghostly vision of David it was a fleeting glimpse and he was gone before she could be sure. He looked happy. She remembered that at least.

Then of course there was Star. The seemingly innocent flower child with the mass of wild dark curls and doe eyes. Lucy was always slightly put off by Star. She reminded her too much of some bad characters she had met along the way back in the summer of 69. Very much wolves in sheep's clothing. Micheal however for a time was enraptured by her. Though nothing good would come of it. They gave her a chance and took her in. Very much like how David probably did. They gave her a home and support but in the end she just threw it all back in their faces. Star simply up and left town one night. Leaving Micheal with a broken heart and taking all the money in the house with her. Along with Lucy's garnet bracelet her mother gave her when she turned 16. She simply vanished into the world to find her fate whatever it may be. In truth Lucy was glad to see her go. Even before she ran off into the night money was going missing and her affections towards Micheal had cooled considerably. A few hundred dollars and a bracelet seemed a small price compared to the once David and his boys paid.

She had been the last link they had with David and his gang. The wild boys. Free as the wind and untamed as the sea that came into their lives and shattered their comfortable concept of reality.

Though they where gone the memories remained. Lucy often found her thoughts returning to those troubled lost boys she had met on the boardwalk in Max's video store. She shed no tears for Max but those boys where different from him. They where far from soulless monsters. She would learn later Max was using them and essentially keeping them bound to his will. Max was a failure as a father. They had been wild reckless troublemakers. Full of mischief and fun. Lucy found herself missing them sometimes. Did it really have to end that way? Did they really deserve to die so horribly? Why did it have to end like that?

She couldn't help but miss them. David with his sly grin and dry humor. Marko in his patchwork coat of many colors and all his mischief. He was such a devilish little imp. Dwayne,tall and stoic and always polite to her. Then there was Paul,the wild rock star with a kind heart. He always made her laugh. She had come to know them a little over that summer. She couldn't tell her father or her sons but in her heart Lucy knew she had come to care about them.

They only ever once frightened her the night they circled her on their motorcycles. To their credit though one of them did seek her out a week later to apologize for scaring her. The tall beautiful one with the haunting icy blue eyes and mass of soft golden hair. That was the night she formally met Paul. She had seen him early on one evening in the video store before Max shooed the gang off. Here he was again. The tall handsome young man with a beaming smile and infectious laugh. He smelled of spent weed and sea air and he could never seem to hold still. Shifting in his boots and tapping on the counter like he was a drummer in a band. Shy and apologetic as he charmed her. She could tell it wasn't the boys style and it wasn't easy for him to admit being in the wrong but he was at least trying. Being a mother she could easily tell when an apology was genuine and his rang true. The gang never gave her cause for fear again. She remembered how Paul was the most approachable of David's gang and how in time he would become the one she saw the most.

From time to time he would slip into Max's store and smooth talk her into letting him stay and hang out until Max would return and he'd bolt out the back or duck under the counter till he went back to his office before taking off back into the night laughing devilishly the whole way. He'd sometimes try to snag candy or soda only to be thwarted by Lucy. He'd laugh and put his hands up in resignation and laugh. "well got busted by your old lady again pops" He'd say with a devilish little grin before Max would chase him off again. He seemed curious and fascinated by her. About her life mostly. Where she came from,what her story was. Her interests and pastimes. He liked her stories of the 1960s. Sometimes he would ask what kind of mother she was and how she treated Micheal and Sam. That used to bother her a little until later on after their deaths it dawned on her. The boy was lonely. He missed his own mother. Back then before she knew what they really where she figured they where all runaways,homeless and on the streets. Lucy could forgive them easier than Max. They couldn't help being a little rowdy and obnoxious. She only once was able to get Paul to open up about his life prior to David's gang and it was nothing good. None of the boys came from anything you could call a stable or happy life. David was another one she could tell had seen hell. His eyes where tired and weary. Eyes that saw too much cruelty and too little kindness.

Her heart went out to them. Even now knowing what they where. After all what if it was Micheal on the streets of some city alone in the world? After that horrible night it all made sense. Max's plan appealed to Paul. It seemed to appeal to all of them but especially to Paul. The boy wanted a mother. Paul wanted a family. Something he never really had.

He had been drunk and stoned a couple times and let a few telling things slip. Commenting on how lucky Micheal was to have her. Wishing his life had been different. He'd talk about his dreams of being a rock star and how he had tried to make it out in Hollywood but never found success. He used to sing for her sometimes. His voice was beautiful. Lucy wished she had the sense to get it on tape at least once. She had used a twenty dollar bill to coax Paul grudgingly into serenading her with "California dreaming" on the 4th of July of that summer. Then on one occasion after Max had berated him and brought the boy to the verge of breaking down Lucy had taken him for a walk by the sea to calm him. He admitted that night he liked her. Despite being clearly stoned and a bit drunk it was genuine. Its in those moments of intoxication when the filter is off that the real feelings good or bad always come out. Human or vampire its all the same. He openly admitted she was someone special to him now. When she brought it up the next time she saw Paul in a more sober state he laughed it off and denied it. She knew though he cared and liked being around her.

Lucy wished she could have been a mother to him and the other boys. If only Max hadn't been part of the deal. If only they could have saved them from him. It was too late now. The boys where dead and resting in the afterlife. Her thoughts always returned to the boys. To Paul. The lost boy searching for a new mother. The boy with desperation in those angelic eyes and pain behind that beautiful smile. A longing,an endless aching need just as powerful as the blood lust that overtook him. The lonely boy who just wanted some peace and happiness like everyone else. She wept for him when she found his sad remains in the bathtub upstairs. His final words haunted her.

"You'll make everything better I know it,you'll make Max happy and everything will be okay and you can help me...you can help us all Lucy you'll see"  
He had pulled her into an embrace,lifting her off the ground and laughing as she demanded he put her back down before vanishing back into the night on his motorcycle. Howling and yelling as he went. Wild and carefree as the summer winds. Riding off to meet his doom. The handsome blonde boy with the beautiful voice and warm smile would soon be nothing but a pile of bones held together with some sinew in the bottom of the bathtub. The sight of the remains gave her nightmares for weeks. Paul burned to death upstairs and poor Dwayne scattered about the living room.

They had buried what was left of Paul and Dwayne in modest graves. Edgar and Alan promptly departed after their work was done so it was left to Micheal to dig the graves for them. The Emerson's had given them both a resting place away from the house on a nearby hillside that overlooked the ocean. In the distance the colored lights of the boardwalk could be seen dancing on the horizon a couple miles away. She had Micheal help her arrange stones around the two graves. Micheal had admitted in private to his mother his regrets and the guilt he felt over their deaths. He hadn't wanted them dead. It all got out of hand so fast and he couldn't stop it. In truth Micheal missed the boys. He missed those wild fun nights.

Each evening after dinner Lucy would visit them. Leaving shells or flowers on the boys graves. They had never found David's body. It vanished and it was assumed he went off somewhere to die alone like a wounded animal. He could never have gotten back to the cave in his current state after all so the sun probably finished him off. No counter attack ever came after all. Lucy felt deep sadness knowing David probably crawled off somewhere and died alone. Someone should have been there at least in the end. Marko had died in the elevator shaft back in the cave according to Sam and his remains where still there. However when they went to investigate the cave they found no trace of Marko. This only added to her sons unease.

Lucy's thoughts returned to the present. The late summer of 1989. Tonight was one of those evenings that found Lucy wandering out to the resting place of Paul and Dwayne. It was dusk. The dying rays of the setting sun cast a crimson glow over Santa Carla as night fell. The tumbling clouds reaching out over the sea where painted in gold and deep rose pink as the violet cloak of night began to drive away the last dying embers of the suns light. The moon was sleepily rising over the hill tops as fireflies danced through the air around her. It was a beautiful night. The soft summer breeze carried the sea air and wildflowers perfume. In the distance as always she could see the colored lights of the boardwalk dance on the waves. That special place she had met the boys that lost summer now a fading place in the past.

As she made her way to the graves her attention was drawn to a noise crashing through the undergrowth of ferns and tall grass. It was coming towards her. It stopped a moment and there she saw a shadowy figure drag itself swiftly across the path before her. It circled around and drew close to Lucy. An inky black vaguely human form crept towards her. In the soft silvery light of the moon she could see a pair of eyes staring at her through the grass a few yards away. Golden fiery eyes that caught the moonlight. They blazed like two embers from a dying bonfires flame. All she could see was the black shadowy form and those demonic eyes. Soon she could see a pair of exposed fangs glimmering like two pieces of polished ivory. She shrieked and stepped back dropping the flowers she carried. The eyes turned from her and vanished. Off towards the darkness of the nearby woods. She could hear what sounded like someone low to the ground dragging themselves along quickly rushing off crying out in guttural deep inhuman moans. Its labored raspy breathing fading into the night. She stood frozen in terror for a moment. Listening she could hear whoever or whatever it was vanish off into the woods. Something inside her knew instantly and she ran to the graves. She stopped mid stride and gasped,clasping her hands over her mouth. There in the glow of the moonlight she could see one of the graves was disturbed and now empty. She sank to her knees barely able to catch her breath. The soil was pushed up and out from the grave. The place where once rested all that remained of Paul.


	2. Chapter 2 Creature of the night

Lucy found no rest that night. After the disturbing encounter out by the graves sleep was impossible. She didn't know what to do. Telling her sons would only make the anxiety and fear the two boys labored under even worse. She feared Sam might even have a nervous breakdown. He hadn't been right since 1987. She lay in the darkness of her bedroom staring at the shadows cast by the summer moon dance across the walls. Every sound outside gave her cause to shudder and her heartbeat to quicken. Her mind invented such terrible scenarios. Visions of horror,her sons flayed and torn apart. Her elderly father slaughtered and her at the mercy of some undead creature from the grave. She had never known this kind of fear. This uncertainty and dread. It was heavy and palpable.

Earlier that night after the encounter she had run back to the house. Absolutely terrified she would find her father and sons slaughtered. Expecting Paul had risen from his grave and taken his gruesome revenge. However when she made it back to the house she found nothing. Sam and Micheal where safe upstairs in their rooms and her father was at work on another piece of taxidermy. There was no sea of blood and scattered limbs,no nightmare waiting. Save for Nanook peering out the bay window off towards the woods with his ears lowered. Lucy stared out the window beside Nanook and peered into the darkness wondering if just beyond the shadows a vengeful and hate filled vampire was stalking them that night. Waiting to come and take his terrible revenge on them. The rest of the evening passed uneventfully. The horror never came. Save for a squabble between Sam and Max nothing noteworthy happened that night.

Her thoughts returned to the present moment. To the dark bedroom heavy with dread and dancing with moon shadows. Thoughts of the summer of 87',of Paul and David. Marko and Dwayne. Wondering if maybe one by one they might all return to haunt her family. She tried to rationalize what she saw earlier.

Maybe she was wrong. Maybe perhaps it was just a coyote or something. Maybe the grave had been dug up by a scavenger that made off with the remains? No,there was nothing of sustenance on them. No flesh at all. She tried to rationalize and lie to herself. The truth was impossible to deny. Somehow Paul had risen from his grave. It couldn't have been a wild animal. The shadowy form had been distinctly that of a male figure. Those eyes where like nothing she had ever seen on any mere dog or coyote. Maybe he'd go away. Maybe he'd go off and start a new life somewhere else.

It wasn't herself she was afraid for but her sons and her elderly father. Those vampires died angry and in terrible pain. Longing for revenge. Though none of that was reserved for her. It was a sure feeling inside her heart that Paul would never hurt her. However Sam and Micheal as far as she knew where now in grave danger. What if he came back some night while she was at work and slaughtered them? Then she would truly be alone. Lucy would also lose her strange friend. She knew if Paul harmed her boys she would have to destroy him or die trying. There could be no forgiveness. All the tenderness and affection she had for him meant nothing compared to the love for her sons and father. She would destroy him if she had to. If those two boys from the comic shop could dispatch them so easily she could to.

Yet she still pitied him. Paul wasn't blessed like her sons. He probably never had a good home life,living on the streets,ending up in David's gang. He never had a chance to be anything else. Despite knowing what he was she couldn't hate him. She could fear him and dread his retaliation but could not bring herself to hate the wild fun loving boy with the baby blue eyes and golden hair. She could feel a couple tears break through her lashes just thinking about him.

A question haunted her thoughts all night though. How? How could he return? When she found his remains in the bathroom he had been reduced to nothing but a skeleton held together with some tendons and sinew clothed in his distinct garb. The memory of that sickening sight was seared into her mind as burned and seared as his flesh from his bones. She remembered the slough of melted flesh and pile of burned sizzling blonde hair. There was nothing left. They had buried him fairly deep in the earth in a simple pine box her father knocked together and his remains where coated in holy water so how could he return from the dead?

There was nothing but fear and dread for the rest of that long sleepless summer night.

The next morning came ushered in with unseasonably cool weather. A chill in the air like the kind you see more typically in a New England fall. Very strange and very unsettling. Lucy made a point of arising early having been able to only capture an hour or two of sleep. She was exhausted. Lucy considered using one of her sick days to take the day off for herself to recover from the previous night. She arose and pulled a lilac silk kimono with a scattered pattern of white cranes over her peach colored satin nightgown. She went downstairs while her sons still slept. Her father had already departed off somewhere earlier. She went to the kitchen and retrieved the box of salt and a bottle of holy water. Soon she went about each window and doorway in the house pouring salt and holy water around each entry into the house. She hoped maybe this could provide some protection. She did the same outside,walking around the house pouring salt and sprinkling holy water around the whole circumference of the house. The few books on the subject she had studied after that fateful summer stated salt and holy water could repel the undead. Though the books had been wrong about garlic and silver. They had also discovered through Max that vampires could be seen in modern nickle or aluminum backed mirrors. Though silver was a mystery. It clearly didn't hurt them. Some of Paul's jewelry was sterling silver after all.

She stopped a moment. The recollection of his jewelry gave her cause to stop a moment and reflect on the small box she kept hidden up in her room. A small black satin jewel box she had tenderly kept Paul's rings and bracelets in as well as his trademark earring. She had wanted to bury them with him originally but in the chaos of the aftermath had forgotten to,leaving it up in her closet all this time. She hoped he would not resent her for taking them.

She finished her task of sprinkling the last of the salt around the foundation of the house before she came around to the porch where she kept her plants. As she prepared to go back in to dress and call in to work she noticed a small piece of crumpled soiled paper folded and resting on the leaves of her Boston fern. The color drained from her face and she felt her heart sink into her stomach as she reached for it with trembling hands. She took the small piece of paper and unfolded it to find a messily scrawled message for her.

_" I know you saw me last night. I didn't mean to scare you. I wanted to come to you so badly but I look like hell right now. I'm still pretty messed up looking. I don't want you to be afraid of me Lucy. I'm not going to hurt you or those jerk sons of yours. I'm sorry,yeah I'm pissed at them both but I'd never hurt them or the old man. It wouldn't bring my bros back and all it would do is hurt you. I'd never want to cause you any kind of pain Lucy. I promise not to take them away from you. I miss you Lucy. I might stay around or hit the road. Maybe I'll see you again someday. Take it easy. Paul "_

Lucy had sunk into her wicker chaise as she read it. She held the little note in her hand and felt a weight lifted off her heart. She felt his words where genuine. Paul wasn't the type to go off and plot some elaborate revenge. It just wasn't his style. Paul was bold and reckless and to the point. If he wanted her family dead he would have done so that night.

Now a new thought crept into her mind. Paul was alive and out there somewhere all alone. Despite knowing what he was and what Paul was capable of her heart ached for him. Alone in the world. To Lucy he was in some ways like Micheal. Just a boy,a troubled youth. A lost boy on his own in the darkness.

She wondered if she really would ever see him again. Strangely enough she dearly wanted to.


	3. Chapter 3 Night on the boardwalk

The last weeks of summer slowly bled into fall as summer died and the tourist season came to a close. The boys would be returning back to school. Micheal for his senior year and Sam entering the 8th grade. Weeks had past since that night when she had found Paul's empty grave and caught a fleeting glimpse of the vampire on that moonlit late summer evening. Save for the note there was one other incident. A week after the event she was awoken by a gentle tapping at her window. There she found a piece of sea glass,smoothed by the sand and waves and pale green. It was resting there on her windowsill still damp from the seashore. After that though came nothing more. Sometimes the faintest whisper on the evening breeze but so soft she felt as though they where imagined.

She had seen no trace of him since. The note he left and was tenderly kept locked away in the black satin jewelry box with his things. The piece of cherished sea glass rested on her vanity. Many nights found Lucy waiting on the porch in her little garden watching the road leading up to the house. Hoping maybe she would see her wayward lost boy come wandering up to see her. So far he had never come. And each night her heart sank a little deeper. Perhaps he never would. Perhaps he had left town and possibly moved on somewhere else. Lucy hated to admit it but she was starting to miss him.

More time drifted by as September faded into October. On the 12th of October Lucy decided to break up the monotony that had been hanging over the house since school started back up and offered to take the boys down to the boardwalk for the evening. It was a hard sell after all the two where still mortified of the place after dark but after a long discussion and reassurance on the matter the two relented though both wore rosaries and carried holy water. Sam insisting she don a rosary to to be safe. Going so far as to put holy water on her silk scarf. Off they went via Grandpa's cherished vintage car and they set out hoping for a memorable evening. That night would be the beginning of a new chapter in all their lives.

Despite their initial trepidation the two boys soon found themselves laughing and having fun like they had before. The boardwalk,awash in colored lights and Halloween decorations. Alive with laughter and a steady stream of humanity all out for the same purpose. It was like old times again. Like that summer of 87' never happened,like they had never met David and his gang. It made Lucy so happy to see Sam laugh again. It had been far too long. Micheal and Sam had been able to drag her on practically every ride and they had dinner at the Pizzeria on the boardwalk. The night could not have gone more perfectly. Until Sam wandered off to get change for the boardwalk games.

After dinner they had decided to hit up some of the games and Sam felt carefree and safe enough to go off on his own to exchange a twenty dollar bill for singles. As he made his way back to Micheal and Lucy his attention was drawn to the roar of a motorcycle pulling into the nearby parking lot off from the main entrance to the boardwalk. The boy froze in mid step and a terrible chill traveled up his spine. He turned slowly,fear building and cresting into a wave of terror as he turned to see there in the parking lot the figure of a lone young man. Tall and dressed all in black astride a gleaming new model Harley Davidson.

The young man's gaze fell on the boy and Sam felt his knees shake and tremble. He wore a road worn old leather jacket,tattered black jeans and cowboy boots and a Motley Crue Band T-shirt. A few glittering silver occult charms and necklaces dangled from around his neck. His face bore a couple fading scars that looked like burns. There was no mistaking who it was though. That mass of tumbling wind swept blonde hair,those piercing icy blue eyes and that devilish smile. It was the vampire who died upstairs that night back in the summer of 1987. Sam watched him dismount his motorcycle and saunter over to the entrance of the boardwalk. He leaned against a light post and smirked. He lit up a joint while he hummed the tune of "Dr Feelgood" before placing it on his lips to take a deep toke off it. He stared at the boy. His icy gaze seared into Sam and he broke the terrible suspense suddenly.

"BOO!"

The vampire called out with a mocking childlike affectation sending Sam falling back and stumbling as he turned and ran screaming.

Paul stood and howled with laughter,doubling over himself before returning to his Harley. Watching the boy run off down the boardwalk he smiled and shook his head still snickering to himself.

"Ya little shit..." he muttered softly before starting his ride back up and roaring off into the night.

Sam ran till his lungs felt as if they would burst,ran till his legs ached and he was in sight of his mother and older brother. Sam ran into her arms sobbing,tears and snot running down his face. The boy was inconsolable and his attempts at speech incoherent as he stammered. Micheal tired to calm his brother,stopping to look around the boardwalk at passing strangers,for any sign of who or what had terrified his poor younger brother to near the point of a nervous breakdown. Sam was able to choke out a few words between his tears and labored breathing.

"I saw one,I saw one of them Mikey,They're back oh shit,no no,I knew it I knew they would come back for us"

Micheal was livid. He didn't feel an ounce of fear simply rage. To come after his poor little brother of all people. He was seething. This had to end and it had to end now. Micheal felt nothing but anger and hatred.

Lucy held her little boy in her arms comforting him as best she could. She felt to blame somehow and felt crushed that Paul would do this to her baby.

Micheal gathered up his mother and Sam and took them to a nearby church that was performing a late mass. He knew they would be safe there and he told them to wait for him. He soon returned to the boardwalk alone. He was furious as he walked through the rides and various games searching for any trace of them at all among the happy crowds of unsuspecting people. He continued on searching walking out to the end of the pier. Micheal stood there in silence for a moment his ears straining to listen for anything on the autumn wind. Faint laughter. Distant and ghostly. Faint whispers. He looked out into the night for any sign of the vampires.

The whispers came again but it was one voice,that soft reedy voice he knew belonged to Paul.

He spun around and looked behind him. There was nothing. Nothing but more whispers in the darkness out beyond the lights of the board walk. Soft and mocking.

"Mikey...Mikey...hey Mikey...Did ya miss me bro? Say...got any plans for Halloween loser? Maybe take your little brother out trick or treating?"

Micheal ran to the nearby steps that led down to the seashore and ran down to the sandy beach. The shore was empty and deserted this time of year. Summer was over and the party that came with it each year. There was no one there in October. No bonfires or stoned surfers,no beach bums or couples hooking up under the pier. Just silence and darkness out beyond the colored lights of the boardwalk.

Micheal walked further out across the shore until he came to surf. The waves crashing on the sand and a cool night breeze still carrying Paul's whispers in his ears.

"What are you waiting for?" Micheal muttered,gritting his teeth and clenching his fists.

"Picking on a little boy you lowlife? Sam never did anything to you,to any of you. You got a problem its with me not him...so here I am Paul. You want blood come and take it...or are you a coward? Scaring little kids your game? That how you get your kicks?"

The whispering faded to silence. Now it was just Micheal and the darkness.

He waited,sweat running down his brow,his eyes focused on the shadows for anything.

Until the silence was shattered by the roar of a motorcycle that sped past him causing Micheal to jump back and fall into the surf. He watched as Paul sped past him on his Harley,doubling back and speeding toward him. Micheal struggled to get to his feet as the vampire sped toward him revving his engine. Paul's face was in a demonic wild sneer,feral and terrifying with his fangs bared as he came up on Micheal. Howling with laughter he closed in on him coming to a stop sideways sending a spray of damp sand over Micheal.

Paul dismounted once more and walked over to him. He descended on Micheal so quickly it was but a blur and rush of cool air hitting him. Before he could react Micheal was held up by his throat by Paul. The vampire glared up at him,his smile and laughter now gone and a look of seething hatred now played over his feral vampiric features.

The vampire snarled at Micheal and in a seething guttural tone he spoke.

"You callin' me a coward? That's rich Mikey...real fuckin' rich bro...You who brought them to murder my best friend in his sleep? They didn't even have the balls to face my bro Marko,naw dude..they crept in like little punks...You who helped that shifty bitch set my family up to die like dogs? all David wanted was you by his side...you piece of shit...he loved you and you murdered him...we never did anything to you or those little pukes from the comic book store...You callin' me a coward is probably the worst insult I could take from a traitor like you Micheal..."

Paul lifted Micheal a little higher before tossing him into a nearby sand dune,following swiftly behind before kicking him in his side sending him tumbling over the dune and back down into the surf. Paul stood over him silently now. He began to circle him.

Micheal was now furious and lunged at the vampire aiming his fist for Paul's face nearly planting a blow only to have him sidestep out of his path and appear directly behind him. He turned swiftly to face the vampire trying once more to land a blow only to have Paul catch his fist mere inches from his smug sneering face.

He laughed at Micheal and said," Tch,really bro? That all you got Mikey? Weak man,pretty weak..."

Paul back hand slapped him sending Micheal back down into the sand. A spurt of blood from his nose smeared across Paul's hand. Paul snickered devilishly and muttered,"heh heh I get to wail on your ass and get a little appetizer?" Paul took a long wet lick off his hand taking Micheal's blood. Before he could stand again in an instant he felt an intense pressure on his throat as Paul held the heel of his boot to it. He looked down at his prey with a satisfied grin. It faded to a pained angry expression though as he held him there. "I could crush your windpipe right here y'know that Micheal?" Paul seethed through his fangs.

"Why Mikey? Just tell me why...Huh? They where all I had,they where my family,they where my brothers...and now I'm alone...why did you help kill the only real family I ever had? I liked you man,I liked you a lot. I was happy when David brought you in...You could have been my brother...why did you fuckin' betray us?"

Paul released him from beneath the spur and sighed. He took out another joint to light up and calm his nerves.

Micheal remained still,his thoughts racing as he faced the real possibility this was the end of his life,he looked for any chance of escape. He remembered the vial of holy water. It could at least buy him time and a chance to escape. He pulled it out of the pocket of his leather jacket. Before he could get the top off the vial it was swiftly knocked from his hand with such force it popped his wrist out of the joint dislocating it instantly. Micheal shrieked and doubled over in pain and Paul descended upon him and pinned him to the ground.

He looked up into his face,the feral demonic visage now gone and returned to the angelic handsome vision more familiar. The anger remained. He drew close to Micheal and muttered softly.

"You'd like to kill me wouldn't ya? It gonna take more than a little piss drop of that shit to do it Mikey...a bathtub of that stuff didn't do the job...yeah...you'd like to see me dead still huh?"

Micheal remained silent as radiating waves of pain traveling from his wrist. This had to be the end. He was going to die here and his little brother and mother would be at Paul's mercy. His thoughts where brought back to the present swiftly. Jarred by a few warm droplets that fell upon his face.

He looked back up at the Vampire that had him pinned in the sand. From those pale blue eyes a few warm tears broke and fell down on Micheal. Paul released him and backed away. Turning away from Micheal before kicking the sand and snarling to himself.

"FUCK" He shouted.

Paul ran his hands through his messy golden blonde hair and turned back to Micheal. He stared at him and wiped his eyes.

"I wanna gut you right here...right here and leave you for the crabs and the seagulls...but...I can't Mikey...I made a promise...I promised your mom I wouldn't...Fuck...I want to though...so badly...I wanna make you feel everything I went through...I wanna make you scream...but...I can't...and the fucked up thing is...even if I hadn't made that promise I don't think I could..."

Paul sank down to his knees before sitting down in the sand across from Micheal.

Micheal starred at the vampire and remained silent.

Paul removed his leather jacket and rested it beside him before sighing deeply. A pained and conflicted look played out on his face. His gaze fell back to Micheal.

Micheal noticed Paul's bare arms. They where taut with lean muscle but his flesh was still faintly marred with faint burns that where still healing. Even after all this time the and healing from the holy water bath the damage was still lingering.

He glared and Micheal broke the silence and spoke.

"I'm...I'm just so damn angry...I didn't want this...I just...I just wanted a family..I wanted brothers and a dad...I wanted a mom...I wanted us all together and happy forever...it could have been like heaven on earth for us all man...One family forever...No dying or growing old bullshit...I could have been happy...really happy like everyone else...Why did you help kill them man,why? Fuck Mikey...I don't understand...I really don't man..."

Micheal sat up holding his wrist. Keeping his gaze locked on Paul as he sat there in the sand across from the vampire stunned and puzzled. He could have killed him. He could have easily torn him apart. He didn't though. He hurt him yes but nothing fatal. And now this. All this time he had never bothered to consider how any of them might have felt. If they felt anything at all. He let Edgar and Alan convince him they where just soulless monsters. Manipulative empty liars. That was another allusion shattered. Here was Paul,his heart breaking and soul poured out to him. The truth laid bare and plain for Micheal. He didn't know how the rest of them felt but now it was clear to him. Paul was no monster. He was lonely. He was sad and lost and just wanted what everyone else had. What he never had. He'd only seen the fun wild playful side of the vampire rocker. Never the heart within. And yes,there was still a heart and soul in that immortal flesh.

Micheal finally broke his silence and responded to Paul.

" You want the truth? I was scared...You talk about wanting a family? I get that but what about me huh? I was scared of losing my family...I didn't know what you guys had planned or what you wanted. I thought you where gonna kill them. My mom,Sam and gramps. I was scared of what I was turning into...what I saw that night you guys tore that gang apart at the bonfire...You can't sit there and tell me that was right man..."

Paul's eyes remained fixed on Micheal as he continued on.

" You guys where a nightmare...you came into my life and fucked up everything,everything I knew about the world and then all that shit with Star...I didn't know okay...I didn't know David...I didn't know he cared,I had no way of knowing any of that..."

Micheal lowered his head and shuddered a little,his chest heaved slightly as his lower lip trembled and a few tears streamed down his cheeks.

"...If I could do it over again,If I'd known Max was the head vampire and it was all him behind the scenes...I wouldn't have let them hurt any of you...I wouldn't have let them kill Marko and Dwayne and David...and what happened to you...knowing what I do now man...I can't even imagine what you went through...I'm sorry..I'm so sorry...please believe me Paul...I didn't mean to take your family away...Forgive me.

Micheal's words faded and trailed off as Paul sat expressionless and silent.

Micheal closed his eyes and a deep sob broke through as he held his dislocated wrist to his chest. He shuddered as his tears fell. Suddenly he felt himself wrapped in Paul's arms,the vampires chin resting on his forehead as he held the young man gently. He could feel Paul shudder too. A deathly quiet reigned between them for a time before Paul spoke. He muttered softly.

"We all fuck up sometimes bro...I forgive you Mikey...I really do...I needed to hear you say it I guess..."

The vampire released him from his embrace and took his wrist. The vampire held it swiftly popping it back in place and before Micheal could scream or react he felt a strange radiating warm energy travel from Paul's hand to his injured wrist. In warm waves it caressed his aching wrist. The pain faded with Paul's touch and his wrist was healed.

Paul smiled and said ," Just a little trick Max taught us awhile back..."

He stood and walked back to his motorcycle,mounting his ride he looked at Micheal and spoke to him once more.

"Hey...tell the little dude I was jus' playin'...I wouldn't have hurt him...I was jus' being a dick y'know me Mikey...My bad man... "

Micheal nodded in response and asked, "So we're cool? You and me?"

Paul smiled and replied," Cool like a glacier bro...I promise..."

Paul started up his engine and looked back at Micheal smiling one last time before turning and speeding off into the night. The roar of his motorcycle fading in the darkness leaving Micheal alone on the shore.

He was unaware another immortal soul had watched them both from the shadows. Weary eyes watched Micheal. He'd spent a lot of time in the darkness alone. Watching and waiting. It was none other than the gangs leader. David sighed so softly it vanished on the breeze. Now wasn't the right time to make his presence know. To Micheal or Paul. Smiling,to himself his eyes and fangs glimmered in the lights of the boardwalk. Lighting his cigarette the shadowy specter too vanished into the night like a wisp of smoke on the autumn breeze. Just a little more time and he'd reveal himself. To come calling on Halloween.


	4. Chapter 4 Highway to hell

Paul's Harley roared down a dusty back road heading out of town. He preferred taking the less traveled more secluded ways out of town lest anyone be tailing him. After Edgar and Alan he had become more aware of hunters and took precautions. Off behind him the lights of the boardwalk cast a comforting rose colored glow on the night sky as Santa Carla faded into the distance. As he made his way through the back road the roar of his bike sent owls and bats off into the air above him. The pale opaque light of the moon poured through the trees over the road casting ghostly shadows all around Paul. It was a beautiful October night. The star sparkled like diamonds cast over a cloak of black silk. How Paul loved the wind in his hair and the open road by night. He was heading home now. Though not back to the old hotel. He had decided not so long ago returning to the cave was not in his best interest. Now that the old hiding place had been compromised and for the pain going back there would bring. Without his brothers the place was now just a tomb for his memories. He had to move on to a new place.

Paul was tough as nails,very little could shake him but the loss of his brothers weighed on his heart like a milestone. The very idea of going back to the cave and seeing that lobby again and all the sacred memories within was too much to bear. Marko had died in that place. His best friend,his brother,his partner in crime and mischief. How could he ever face that cave again? So Paul had found a new hideout. It was the first thing he did when he was well enough to leave his temporary hiding place in a hayloft over in a farm adjoining the Emerson's place. He had lingered there regaining his strength and healing off the blood of rats and a couple farm animals. He'd still been in bad shape when he had kicked his way from his grave. Weak and feral looking with lingering burns and seeping wounds still healing from the holy water. The fact he was alive at all was a dark miracle. Either God took pity on him or the devil himself lent a hand. Either way it was just good to be alive and kicking again.

As his bike passed through the wooded portion of the back road he came out on a clearing. A few vast fields spread out before him on each side of the road and there in the moonlight looming ahead was a dark outline of turrets and gables covered in a lacy veil of overgrown ivy. Fingers of moonlight highlighted ornate stonework and wrought iron details on the forgotten mansion. Set in a wide open space beneath the starry sky and surrounded by overgrown gardens was his new hideout standing like a ghost from the gilded age. Dark and looming like a silent witness to the passing decades bathed in moonlight. The old St. Claire estate. It was one of those vast ornate palaces built by gold coast millionaires back in the gilded age before the first world war. The last time anyone had resided there was before the market crashed back in 1929. It had sat boarded up and vacant for decades. No one came out here. The place was considered haunted and cursed. David had once considered moving the hideout there but Max forbade it as the estate was too far outside of town for him to keep an eye on them and he was concerned they would be too vulnerable there. What a joke,like a decaying hotels ruins where any better? No it was more likely all about Max and his endless need for control and power over them. Being out here would give them a little too much freedom out of his sight. Paul was glad to be rid of him.

Paul pulled up the narrow paved path that led up to the front of the mansion. The pavement was old and cracked with roots and saplings pushing up through the old blacktop now a dull slate gray bleached by decades of California sunshine. It was all bathed in moonlight giving the whole place a surreal theatrical feel like some old movie set from the silent era. Flanking each side where Baroque nymphs and classical goddesses carved out of Italian marble. They stood atop ornate pedestals overgrown with ivy and covered in moss and lichen. They looked gloomy and sullen,their lifeless stone eyes staring out into eternity. He pulled up and did a couple laps around the elegant fountain that stood in front of the estate. It was like the one back in the old lobby but much larger and more intricately carved with a statue of Venus sitting atop a cockle shell. Her head residing in the murky lily pad overgrown water. He had fun speeding around the thing,revving his engine loudly and howling as he sped around it before heading off to the old garage where a rusting old 1928 Rolls Royce sat on flat decaying tires. He pulled his ride into the back end of the garage and hid it behind a fallen old door before heading off towards the house.

It was always quiet out here. Save for the sound of crickets and the occasional call of an owl. The soft breeze echoed through the long unkempt gardens like a gentle whisper. Sometimes when the wind was just right it would send the eerie wheezing of an old pipe organ in the mansion drifting out over the gardens like a ghostly moan.

The last heyday this place knew was the 1920s when it was a frequent holiday spot for the wealthy and silent era stars that would come out here for a good time and illegal champagne. Valentino and Gloria Swanson partied here once. After the Atlantis hotel had collapsed into the cliffs below after the 1906 quake the only other place the wealthy could stay was the Ritz Carlton or the Astoria but neither offered the wild time or the privacy the old estate could. On long summer evenings you could occasionally catch the faint sound of the Charleston or other Jazz age tunes with gentle laughter and the sound of champagne glasses clinking,ghostly echos of outdoor parties with guests long dead and forgotten

The place was definitely haunted but that meant little to a vampire after all. If anything Paul found it fascinating and sometimes found himself sitting in the ballroom of the place chatting it up with the ghosts as if they where old friends.

Paul walked up the old marble entry steps that fanned out like a yawning maw and passed through the thick richly carved Spanish oak doors,kicking them closed behind him with the heel of his boot.

He stood in the entry that was lit faintly by the moonlight that poured through the tall French windows that flanked each side of the door. Then entry was one of those grand affairs like you would have seen in palaces over in Europe back in the 18th century. The millionaires of the gilded age loved imitating the long dead nobility of pre revolution France when it came to taste. An immense chandelier hung above. Dripping with cut crystal and sparkling in the moonlight. It sent a gentle clinking echoing through the entry every so often from the draft that passed through the vast rooms or the small bats that roosted up in it. A graceful marble staircase with ornate gilded wrought iron balustrades cascaded down into the entry. Its steps covered in thick rich old red carpeting that was dusty and worn.

Paul smirked and cupped his hands in front of his mouth and shouted out,

"YO THE MASTERS HOME,NOBODY GONNA GREET ME AT THE DOOR?! WHERE YOU AT JEEVES?!"

He cackled with laughter as he walked up the staircase and vanished into the black shadowy halls. Traversing them was no issue for him as his vampiric eyes could easily navigate through pitch darkness. He wandered down the hall until he came to the place he claimed for his own.

He entered the large dark bedroom and set about lighting up the candles he had gathered. They sat in lavish gilded candelabras and some rested across the marble fireplace before the antique rococo mirror he could never see his reflection in,being an antique one backed in silver. Two porcelain vases with long dead dried roses rested there on the mantle with a gilded French clock that had stopped at half past midnight decades ago. As the candles where lit one by one they bathed the room in a soft warm golden glow. The room was in the style of Louis the 15th with a high ceiling and gilded rococo paneling with dusty mauve satin damask wallpaper with painted panels depicting life at the french court. French courtiers with silent smiles and dead eyes in their brocade and powdered wigs stared down at Paul from scenes of fetes and balls. the whole place was like some forgotten movie set from some romantic historical film. Like the rest of the house most of the furnishings where still there. Ornate rococo style chairs,a vanity with a broken mirror and empty perfume bottles,a chaise and an immense bed that reminded him a little of the one in Sunset Blvd that Norma Desmond slept in. The tattered ghost of a bed canopy hung over it and it was covered in silken pillows and comforters Paul had gathered up to make a suitable resting place for himself.

He had taken the time to shutter the windows and shut the thick rose hued brocade drapes edged in metallic gold lace and fringe to block out the deadly kiss of the sun.

Paul pulled off his leather jacket and rested it across the chaise. He sat on one of the overstuffed old Louis the 15th style chairs and kicked off his boots and sat back in the chair stretching his arms and legs. He looked down at his socked feet and the holes in them.

"Well damn,wore another pair out I guess"

He said with a shrug to himself. He tugged them off followed by his sleeveless Motley Crue shirt and tossed the lot over to rest with his jacket across the room.

Paul walked over to his jacket and got a joint out of the pocket along with a pack of D cell batteries he stole from a gas station outside of town earlier. He placed them in a new boombox he snagged off a victim downtown a couple nights prior. He turned it on and found the local rock station and cranked it up before walking over to the bed and leaping back into the nest of pillows and comforters. He sank into the feather bed and its pillows. The silken blankets caressing his bare torso and feet as he relaxed and let his head lull back. His new bed felt cool upon his skin,warm and damp from the night. It was soft and lulling like sinking into a cloud.

It sure beat the old hotels dark passages and damp rooms. Roosting in the elevator shaft had been a necessity. All vampires must do so once in awhile to survive if they have no home or resting place. The hotels rooms where crushed and too unstable and the boys had thought they where safe hidden away in the old elevator shaft after all. How could they know they would be so betrayed and discovered? While Max lived in comfort in a fine house they lived in ruins with no daytime guardian. Max and his care as head vampire was a litany of failures.

Paul placed the joint in his mouth and lit up,taking a deep hit before releasing a satisfied sigh. Normally he would hit up two joints in one night but the encounter with Micheal and Sam earlier had him a bit shook up. He wasn't sure what his next move would be. He had no interest in killing them after all. He wanted those two brats from the comic shop though. Then he thought about Lucy. He wondered if she was there with them earlier. He missed her. He wondered when the time would be right to pay her a visit. The vampire sighed deeply again. He stared up at the canopy of tattered brocade and the ceiling of cherubs and nymphs. He closed his eyes and took another hit and felt his muscles relax and felt as if his flesh and bones where as fluid and draped as the silk he rested upon. He looked so angelic there. If you hadn't known he was a deadly vampire one could actually mistake him for an angel with his golden hair spilling out around his sculpted handsome face with its full lips and strong Romanesque nose. Even the few scars still healing here and there lent him a strange wild beauty.

In the seclusion of his elegant new home Paul was alone with his memories and his thoughts. The music played on rolling through the top 40 hits of 1989. New music he had missed. He had a few tapes on a marble top table of his favorite musicians and their work he had missed out on while dead and buried. The time spent in the after world.

For Paul the last couple years had been pure hell. It was nice to be comfortable and feel safe and above all just to be alive again. The memories of that searing bath haunted his nightmares. Sometimes he'd dream of Marko and it was always the same. He'd watch Marko die before him,just out of reach,just beyond his help. He actually hated those ones more than the occasional dream about falling back into that flesh searing bath of garlic and holy water.

That was a memory never to be dimmed or forgotten. His death had been nightmarish. When he hit the water it instantly reminded him of when he was a child and his father would punish him by holding his hand to the stove. This however was all over every inch of his body. He could feel his flesh melt away. Layer after layer. His features vanish,sloughing off in his hands. His nose falling off into the water along with his ears. Next his golden hair in handfuls. His hair practically melting and sizzling. The world going black when his eyes oozed from his sockets in a gelatinous stream. He felt every moment. The water seared off the flesh and tendons of his fingers and worse his male organs making fast work of the soft flesh down there. The real death came when it ate through his chest cavity and hit his heart. That pain though brief was like being hit with molten lead. It was the final trauma that sent him into shadows. It was indescribable. Being on the receiving end of death was a new experience for a vampire.

Paul could remember the after world. It didn't seem like he was in Heaven or hell. At least not the versions he was taught in Sunday school as a little kid back in the day. He wandered naked through a vast empty plain alone. A gray and colorless place like the old farmlands and fields in Oregon where he grew up. Under an endless sullen sky heavy with dark clouds. Dead and barren and cold like in the winter. The grass was brown and dead,the soil dry and infertile. Dark and lonely. Shivering and cold in a dead place. All he had for company was an eerie wind. Was this purgatory? Or his own private place in hell? He had no way of knowing as he never saw an angel or a demon. Never saw Satan or God. A few times there in that shadowy place he actually called out to Christ. Sad desperate pleading at first that faded to rage. The same question. Where where you? Where where you when I was just a little boy,when I could have been saved and it all could have been better. The same pained questions and desperate pleas and anger where his only company there for nearly two years. And then came a miracle.

A light came above him in that empty dead place. Shining through those dark clouds like a beacon. Glorious and bright. A light so warm and welcoming. His eyes could see nothing but that light and a feeling of comfort enveloped his cold naked body. He closed his eyes and let it take him. For a moment he believed God had heard his pleas and seen his suffering there however when he awoke from this dream like trance the light vanished and he was in darkness again. He was back in the world of the living.

This time in a dark confined place that smelled of the earth and he could feel the warm familiar taste of blood running into his mouth and dripping over his body. His body was but a skeleton really,held together with tendons and growing muscle tissue. He was still blind and deaf and neither faculty had been restored quite yet. He couldn't move,see or hear yet but he could feel around himself a little. He was in a box. A plain wooden box. Buried in the earth and someone above him was pouring blood over his grave,down it traveled through the soil beckoned by his bodies call. Drawing the blood to him like a magnet. They had made a rookie mistake. They left the bones intact. Mercifully the remains had been cleansed by heavy summer rains that seeped into the earth and flooded the hastily made coffin. Filling in and seeping out. Over and over until the bones where cleansed of the holy water.

For several weeks someone above came to him and poured blood over his resting place. Little by little his flesh was restored,his features returned and soon his eyesight and hearing came. Though what was there really to see and hear in the dark musty grave? Above him he could hear footsteps come and go sometimes. His visitor who brought his salvation curiously had no heartbeat which told him one of his kind was nursing him. But who? That questioned always lingered. Sometimes he would hear Lucy. Her gentle whispers and the soft thump of her gentle heart. Sometimes she would sit buy his grave and she'd talk about her day and everyday things. She was a great comfort to him. He wished he could call out to her,wished he was strong enough to be free of his shoddy grave.

He remembered when the time came he was able to summon enough strength and break free of the pine box and claw his way to the surface. A vomit of soil and blood flowing from his mouth before he tasted the sweet night air and for the first time in ages his eyes beheld the summer moon and the stars. His old friends almost forgotten. The sound of someone approaching and his attention drawn to the steps drawing nearer. His legs not quite able to stand yet so he had to drag himself out of sight quickly. From his hiding place in the tall grass he could see it was Lucy. How he wanted to go to her but he knew he must have still looked like a nightmare and he had no desire to scare the poor woman. He felt his heart sink when she locked eyes with him and he realized he had been seen. It took all his strength to drag himself off and out of sight into the darkness. Now the real healing would begin. The first was a rabbit and a few snakes and small rodents.

From there came hiding in the hayloft in the barn. Occasionally he'd see a small girl come and play there. He'd watch her and she'd remind him of Laddie. He wondered what became of his adopted little brother. A few times he was certain the little girl had seen him but curiously didn't seem afraid. He'd see her playing there from time to time. Leading a horse in to brush and feed it. The little girl seemed to dearly love the horse. He made a note not to harm the creature. Soon after the rats and a large pig and a bull full recovery came. On a warm night he went back out into the world. Wandering half dressed along the highway one night outside of town where that biker found him. He had drained him to a dry husk. How sweet the taste of human blood was after so long. The blood poured in his grave though fresh was clearly from an earlier kill. This was fresh warm and pulsing from a dying heart. When he was sated Paul disposed of him off a nearby cliff but kept the sweet ride and the threads. From there it was finding a new place to crash and starting life over.

But the memories remained. Hot summer nights flying through air together. Riding the winds and the starlight. Haunting the streets and back roads with his brothers. The terrors of the boardwalk. Wandering the shores together. Going to concerts,getting high,picking up chicks and partying until the sun came up over the hills. All of them together racing their motorcycles free as the wind. All the moments and memories seared into his mind. Played over and over. The night David found him,meeting the gang,becoming one of them,joining his brothers. Paul was tough as nails but the memory of his brothers gave his heart cause to falter and his lip to tremble. He loved them. They where his world. How could he ever forget? Finding a new hideout and getting his strength back was no problem but how could he just move on? Could he ever build a new life as rich as the one he knew with them? Would anything ever be as wild and free or fun ever again? The world had changed. He had changed. He could never be that careless again. The only good thing to come out of this hell was wisdom. He became a littler wiser and a little stronger. He'd never be led into such an obvious trap again,never let his anger take hold of him. It wasn't just his flesh that was seared away in that bath. His innocence and carelessness was burned away too.

So there he remained with his music and his clouds of pot smoke in his palatial new lair. Alone with his thoughts and memories as outside the first rays of the sun began to cast their light over the sky above and drive the darkness away for another long day under the golden California sun.


	5. Chapter 5 The reunion

The morning mist rolled over the hills and through the woods surrounding the Emerson's home. The moon sank sleepily beneath the horizon as her sister the sun began to rise. The last of the evening stars danced and flickered away as the sky faded from dark violet to pale shades of azure blue. Another autumn day was coming over the hilltops and mountains pouring down into Santa Carla. Paul was settled in and drifting into his sleep beckoned by dreams of Marko and happier days with his brothers. On the other end of town Lucy and her boys where rising for the day. Conflicted and tormented by events of the previous evening. It almost felt like 1987 all over again.

The incident at the boardwalk had different effects on the everyone . It had left Same shaken and worse off than ever before. Sam was the youngest after all and never wanted any of this. He had just wanted life to go back to normal and now everything felt as terrifying and dark as that summer of 1987. Seeing Paul again and having it out had a different effect on Micheal. It helped Micheal come to peace with with the vampires yet apprehension remained. Could you really truly trust the undead? Then there was Lucy more conflicted and unhappy than ever. She sat on the steps of the back porch with her watering can staring off into the distance. The sun was rising now and painting the sky in glorious hues of pink and gold. The beauty of the new day meant little. Her mind was still in the night previous. Her mind tormented with regret and confusion. If she had told the boys of her encounter at the graves that night perhaps seeing Paul on the boardwalk would not have been such a terrible shock to Sam. Sam had never been the same since that night back in that fateful summer. He seemed fine at first but the stress and trauma grew with the weeks passing and seemed to worsen when Edgar and Alan moved away.

Her heart ached and smoldered with anger towards Paul. He promised not to hurt her boys and then went and terrified her baby. Sam could live to be a hundred and he'd always be her baby. To single him out to scare was unforgivable to her. She began to find herself starting to hate Paul. Had it all been a lie? A vampires trick? She sat there alone in her garden and shed bitter lonely tears of long pent up frustration and anger. She had made a heart rending decision. If Paul ever returned again she would have to kill him or die trying. There could be so second chances. She wasn't going to gamble with her sons lives on some daydream of befriending a vampire. He wasn't human,he wasn't like them. In her eyes now Paul was truly a monster. A liar and a inhuman beast.

The morning went on as usual. Micheal never disclosing his encounter with Paul and Sam remaining in seclusion. Micheal had left for school while Sam was in no state to go that day so Lucy let him stay home. He remained locked away in his bedroom and spent the day asleep as he had been unable to get even a moments rest the night previous. Lucy had to go to work of course leaving Sam with his Grandfather. The whole day long as she went through the tedious routine of daily life in a seaside hotel. The motions of managing the place. All while she was troubled and anxious about what to do with Paul now. All day long through greeting guests while dealing with the little squabbles that erupt among the staff her thoughts returned to Paul and what she would have to do if he ever came back. She couldn't see any sense in trusting him anymore. Her mind was haunted by the question over and over. How could she kill the vampire and this time make sure he stayed dead. All while another lingered in her heart. Could she live with herself if she succeeded? Could she really deliver the boy into the hands of death a second time? Questions for which no easy answers ever come.

Later that night she turned to her father for council on the method for destroying a vampire completely. Under his guidance they had set about making a small stake of rosewood,sharpened to a thin sharp point and made small enough to be concealed in a purse or a shawl. Her father then set about taking the stake and letting it sit in a small bath of holy water until the wood was saturated. This process was repeated several times,soaking and drying the stake until the wood was thoroughly saturated with the substance. The plan that Lucy put together was simple enough. If Paul returned with ill intent for her sons she could buy them some time by stalling Paul and drawing him close enough to her to ram the steak right into his dead heart killing him instantly. After that according to her father the remains had to be cremated and scattered around a churchyard or cast into the sea. There could be no return from that. It would be his utter destruction. Yet the guilt lingered. The true test of her resolve would come two weeks later.

It was on a cool autumn evening about a week before Halloween when Lucy found herself in her garden tending her ferns and various herbs. Micheal and Grandpa had taken Sam out to see a movie. The boy felt more at ease with both the men there with him and Lucy had the house to herself that night. She continued tending her garden when her attention was drawn to the distant roar of a motorcycle traveling up the back road towards the house. She froze where she stood as the icy fingers of a chill traveled up her spine. She stared out into the night and cold make out the headlight of a motorcycle traveling through the shadowy back road obscured by trees and turns in the road as it approached. She set her watering can down and ran inside to where she kept the steak they had made hidden. She also grabbed the spritzing bottle she used for her orchids wherein she had placed holy water earlier. Quickly she returned to the back porch and her plants,the steak concealed in the folds of her shawl. She set the holy water down next to one of her plants where a baseball bat rested beside a large fern she had decided to keep on the porch just in case. It seemed tonight was the long dreaded night. Her confrontation with a creature of the night.

When she stepped back on the porch she found herself bathed in the the approaching motorcycles headlight as its roar sputtered out to a low rumble that faded as the bike came to a stop a short distance from her. The bikes engine idled and rumbled before going silent as its rider dismounted. There in the dim light of the evening she could see him plainly now. That golden mas of blonde hair tumbling about his face. That angelic handsome face with those blue eyes she remembered and that charming boyish smile. He was beautiful,just as she remembered him. Now she found herself standing only a few yards from Paul. He stood by his bike for a moment,silently gazing at her before looking up at the house as if searching for any sign of anyone else. This strange awkward silence remained between the two as both stared at one another. Each examining the other and searching for the right words.

Lucy's heart was racing as her mind ran in several directions. Her sentimentality and tenderness for Paul run roughshod over by her instincts as a mother. She had to remind herself this thing before her though charming to look at and sweet to her was in fact a predator. A undead monster who was after her children. He wasn't some sad lost wayward boy or fallen angel. He was a demon and he would lie to her and trick her as he had done so before. He lied to her in Max's store,won her confidence and nearly destroyed her family once before and here he was again most likely to finish the job. This would be her only chance to save her family and put this thing back in its grave for good.

Her thoughts where jolted back to the present as Paul broke the silence between them. His voice was as warm and soft as she remembered it as he spoke to her gently.

"Gee what's wrong Lucy? You look like you've seen a ghost."

She stared at him blankly a moment,she had to get a hold of herself and put on a brave face and do her best to conceal her intentions. She had to get this thing close to her. She forced a smile and replied as cheerfully as possible,

"I'm just startled that's all...I never thought you would come back...its been some time since I saw you that night and found your note Paul..."

She trailed off looking back at the house as he began to approach her slowly.

He smiled and asked the woman,

"And the sea glass...did you keep it Lucy?"

She nodded and replied before stumbling slightly on the steps behind her. Paul could see something was wrong. She was clearly afraid of him.

He frowned and felt his heart sink as he stopped approaching her. He sighed and said to her,

"Whats wrong Lucy? Ain't you happy to see me? I waited a long time for this...I wanted to wait till I was all healed up before seeing you..I looked pretty gnarly y'know"

He smiled and laughed lightly,Lucy remained silent. He could sense her fear and feel her heart racing. He felt his happiness begin to fade as frustration and hurt began to mount his heart.

"You're afraid of me now aren't you? Damn...this isn't how I imagined it... All that time on the other side and in the ground...I thought about this moment,what I'd say if I got the chance to see you again,what it would be like...and here it is and your scared to death of me..."

Lucy steeled herself and began walking back up the steps onto the porch with trembling steps. She never took her eyes off Paul. She tried to ignore the sad confused look on his face. It was a lie,a trick. It had to be. She stammered out a reply to him as she reached for the bottle of holy water. She finally confronted the vampire.

"Wh-why did you have to do that to Sam? He's been a mess ever since that night when you all came after them that summer...and you had to go and scare him...you broke your promise to me,you said you'd never hurt my sons and you got my poor baby on the edge of a nervous breakdown,how could you do this to me Paul? I grieved so much for you,I believed in you when everyone else told me you where just a soulless monster and then you went after my youngest..."

Paul looked startled and taken aback by her words,his brow furrowed in anger and frustration as he began approaching her again.

"Seriously?! Your gonna sit there and say that kind of shit to me for just spooking the little shit? I kept my promise Lucy,I said I'd never take your brats away from you,can your family say the same for the people that mattered to me? Ya all went and murdered my bros and left me alone in the world and your gonna cop an attitude with me and make me feel like shit?!"

Lucy backed up on the porch,the bottle right within reach and the steak in in the other concealed under her shawl. Paul looked hurt and angry as he continued on.

"Your whole family makes me laugh,y'all sit up here judging me when I did nothing,I coulda killed Mikey that night if I wanted to but no I spared him for your sake and for what huh?!"

Lucy replied with a stammering frightened voice,

"Stay back Paul,don't come any closer,I'm warning you stay away from me!"

Paul glared at her and drew closer,

"OR ELSE WHAT LUCY? HUH? OR ELSE WHAT?! What the hell is up with you?! You really think I came out here looking for trouble?!"  
As Paul continued raving and drawing ever closer she felt herself panic. Lucy grabbed the spray bottle aimed it at the vampires face and sent several sprays of holy water into his face. Paul reacted violently shrieking mid sentence and clutched his face in his hands as he stumbled back away from her.

"NOOOOO! NO,NOT MY FACE! NOT AGAIN!" He screamed in agony and horror.

Before he could react Lucy had grabbed the bat and sent it across the side of his head with all her strength sending Paul to the ground with another shriek. He hit the ground with a solid thud and doubled over in pain as he held his hands to his blistering and bleeding face. Blood poured from his ear and his head was numb with pain. His body trembled as growing rage built within his heart. He struggled to stand but Lucy wasted no time and undid the lid to the bottle,tossing the contents into his face. Paul tried to block it with his hands but the searing water passed through his fingers directly into his eyes blinding the vampire instantly. He shrieked and fell to the ground as blood poured from the sockets. He sat on his knees before her clutching his face,his chest heaving and body trembling like a leaf.

"L-Lucy...Why...why are you doing this...not you..pl-please not you too...I can't see..Lucy I can't see...F-fuck..it hurts,oh shit it hurts so bad Lucy please stop..."

His voice cracked into a whimper,desperate,confused and pleading.

Lucy took the steak firmly in her hands though her whole body trembled to match Paul's. Waves of shame and regret washed over her as she beheld the pitiful sight of the vampire before her. Blinded and disfigured,shaking in pain and fear. He reached out for her. His hand shot out towards hers grabbing the steak,his palm burned by the holy water instantly. In the brief moment he held the weapon in his hand he knew the plan set for him and his heart sank deeper. He couldn't see anything but a reddish blur,the burns on his face and hands where sending waves of pain through him and his mind was becoming clouded with terror and heartbreak at the idea the one person in the world he thought was his friend was going to kill him and send him back to that dark cold place. Paul backed away from her across the ground,struggling the whole while and begging for his life.

"Lucy please no,not that,No no,oh fuck no please..I'll go away,I'll leave town I promise jus' don't kill me Lucy please don't! Not you,Your my friend,I never hurt him I promise I just wanted to spook him,I wasn't gonna hurt him I swear Lucy please,please don't!"

The vampire soon was backed up against a nearby shed holding his hands out to Lucy,choked sobs and pleas stammered from his mouth mingled with blood. Lucy felt her resolve fade with each moment. What had she done. The shame of her actions was unbearable. That thin wooden steak in her hand began to feel like a lead weight on her heart as she approached the boy. Her eyes streamed with tears as she struggled for so much as a word to leave her lips.

When suddenly a phantom came forward from the darkness of the night. She was startled and shaken by a rush of cold air and a shadow that swept before her from above,a tall figure now stood between her and Paul. Her eyes widened and her fear fear rose to a fever pitch at the sight of the person before her. It was their leader David.

He glared at the woman. His brow furrowed and his features melded into that terrifying feral visage. His gaze burned into her soul. Paul was silent and confused,his voice was small and afraid as his stammered out,

"Who-who's t-there? Whats happening?"

David looked down at his brother,a pained expression on his face before looking back at her.

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner Paul. I never expected her to do a thing like this...her least of all out of the lot...Fucks sake Lucy what have you done?"

Paul's mouth hung agape and a stunned expression played across his face. Blind as he may have been he didn't need to see to know that voice. He rushed forward and clung to his leader. David rested a hand on Paul's head in a gentle caress as to reassure the boy.

Paul muttered softly as he clung to David.

"David...bro is it really you...dude...where have you been...oh fuck I've missed you so much man. Boss...is it for real..is it really you?"

David's face returned to normal as he gazed down at his brother and replied gently,

"Yeah its me,who else could it be Paul? Hey...calm down now...I'm gonna get you outta here and bring you home ok?"

He looked back at Lucy,a low feral snarl escaped his lips.

"And as for you..."

Before he could act though Paul clung tighter to his legs and shouted,

" NO DAVID,NO,...No...d-don't hurt her man...its not her fault...she can't help it...shes scared of us boss...she..she just...PLEASE DON'T HURT HER I'M BEGGING YOU MAN PLEASE!"

David's eyes where wide as he listened to Paul's plea for her life. He looked back to her then to him again and muttered,

"Damn Paul your really something else you know that?...Out of all of us...I can say you deserved this the least...None of what you've been through all this time...I promised you a better life and what did I give you...what's anyone ever given you man?"

He looked back to Lucy and sneered,

"You see this? Even now after the shit you just pulled he's pleading your case lady,I could tear your head off and feel nothing but I'm gonna let you live,you know why? Because he asked me to spare you bitch. If it where up to me I'd waste all of you and dump you in the sea...I don't have a heart like Paul's..."

Paul was still clinging to his leader muttering over and over,

"She didn't mean to,she didn't mean to,I scared her,she was just protecting herself,she was scared..."

Lucy dropped the steak and sank to the ground Her heart breaking as she stared at Paul clinging to David like a child clinging to their father. She tried to respond to David's damning appraisal of her conduct,

"I'm sorry,I'm so sorry-"

But was swiftly cut off by David who shouted her down.

"SHOVE YOUR APOLOGIES LADY,THEY MEAN SHIT,YOUR WORD MEANS SHIT!"

David leaned down and helped Paul rise to his feet,bracing him on his shoulder as he began to move towards Paul's motorcycle. Paul was whimpering and shuddering with each step as David consoled him and calmed his brother.

"Come on bro,buck up...your gonna be okay I promise...no more tears okay? I'm here."

Paul clung tighter to his leader he stammered for words but nothing but tearful cries escaped his lips.

"shhhh come on man your gonna be ok,you've seen worse y'know,come on I'll get you home and look after you okay? Its gonna be alright...I'll drive okay? You just hold on tight got it?"

Paul nodded in reply as David mounted the motorcycle. He tried to comfort Paul with his usual cool measured tone as he looked over Paul's new ride with an approving whistle.

"Sick new ride my man,you always had the best taste y'know? heh heh I look forward to seeing how this baby rides."

Paul couldn't help but let a laugh escaped his lips despite the pain and betrayal he was feeling. David could always make everything better. It was always his skill as the leader. No matter how dark things could get David could inspire courage and get you to smile and laugh. Paul smiled and replied,

"Yeah she's pretty cherry boss..."

David gently guided his brother to sit behind him. Paul wrapped his arms around his leaders waist and rested his head on his back as he held tightly to him. David started up the motorcycle and looked back at Lucy. His gaze burned into her and he bore his fangs at her once more.

"I'm calling a truce. You don't have to worry lady,No one's coming for you or your brats. I'm taking my brother and we're hitting the road. He needs time to heal though. You and this whole damn town can go to hell. You or your family come near me and my brother again though while he's healing up and the truce is off and I don't care how much he begs for you. You,ANY OF YOU lay a finger on my brother again and your dead. Got it?"

He looked back at Paul and said,

"I hope you learned your lesson Paul,they where never your friends. They'll kill us both if we stay here...its time to find a new home brother..."

Paul nodded silently and closed his blinded bleeding eyes and shuddered again.

David revved up the engine and peeled out of the driveway sending dust and dirt in the air behind him as he sped off down the road into the night with Paul.

Lucy watched them vanish into the darkness before she sank to the ground weeping.

She had never felt so ashamed before in her entire life. Paul was innocent,he didn't deserve what she had planned and now any hope for reconciliation and friendship had been burned away for the last time.

David sped down the road away from the Emerson's,back into the night. His mind was already laying out a plan. He had a list of places to go if things in Santa Carla ever got too heavy for them. That was David. Always a few steps ahead,always planning. After Paul was rested and healed once more he decided that would be the time to hit the road. He had thought about Santa Barbra,Astoria Oregon,Antonio Bay,several other seaside towns and cities but one stood out as the best choice. They would make they're new home in Galveston Texas. The island was a safe haven for the undead. No hunters,no troublemakers. A lovely seaside town just as ideal as Santa Carla with a rich flow of disposable tourists. They would be under the protection of the regional vampire governor who lived on that island and who knew David from the old days before 1906. There was to be a safe haven there. But there could be no traveling right now with Paul in this condition. David looked forward to it. A new life,a better life. No more living in caves or rundown mansions. A real home and some of their own kind that actually gave a damn about them.

David drove on into the night. The two vampires headed out not for the cave but out to the old mansion Paul had been hiding out in for the last few weeks. David had been keeping a close eye on his his brother for some time. He just wasn't ready to reach out to him before. He had hoped for a reunion under much happier circumstances. There was much to talk about,much to look back on together and catch up on. David had more revelations in store for Paul.


End file.
